Revealing The Potential for Historically Black Colleges and Universities to be Liberatory Environments for Queer Students

In the present, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) must be advocates for and support all of their students’ identities and their intersections—especially those that lie in the margins (e.g. race, social class, sexuality, gender, gender identity, religion, etc.). Ultimately, embracing this form of transformational engagement will elicit the necessary changes that are needed to truly shift these environments for their queer students. This chapter seeks to (re)center the narratives surrounding queer HBCU students by including historical accounts of queer resilience that show how queer HBCU stakeholders have been visible and both challenged and confronted the distinct cultures present on these historic campuses to be inclusive of all Black identities since their foundings. We conclude with highlighting contemporary advancements and exemplary practices and interventions that are currently occurring on HBCU campuses as they seek to respond to the intersectional needs of their queer students.